Bean cutter



G. LANG BEAN CUTTER Sept. 15, 1931 Filed Feb. 11, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR ATTORNEY sepi. 15, 1931. g. L NG 1,823,051

BEAN' CUTTER Filed Feb. 11, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY mwfi. um IATTORNEY Sept. 15, 1931. L NG 1,823,051

BEAN CUTTER Filed Feb. 11, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 S I Na m INVENTOR 38CkLan QM. .g m

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 15, 1931 PATENT entice:

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GREGORY LANG, F YUBA CITY, CALIFORNIA BEAN CUTTER Application filedFebruary 11, 1930. Serial No. 427,499.

This invention relates to horse or tractor drawn bean cutters, andparticularly repbpesents improvements over my Patent 0. 1,781,851, datedNovember 18, 1930.

; The principal objects of this invention are to provide an improved andsimplified con struction and mounting of the front end ground engagingtips of the runners and vine engaging rollers, so that these parts willbe 1-1; better able to withstand the strains and wear verticallyadjusted; to provide a simple means for detachably securing the cuttingblades to the runners so that said blades may be easily removed forresharpening; to provide a stronger yet simplified main frame; toprovide a more rigid and substantial means for adjusting the verticalsetting of the supporting wheels; to provide a vertically and mlongitudinally adjustable seat for the operator of the cutter; and toprovide a tongue mounted so that the height of the same at its front endmay be altered to suit difierent conditions.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of ref- LQ orence indicatecorresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved bean cutter.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the main frame at the center showingthe mounting and control of the tongue and the mounting of theadjustable seat.

Fi 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section of a ground engaging tip shownin connect-ion with the adjacent parts.

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 55 of Fig. 4 looking forward.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section of a run- U ner showing thedetachable securing means for a cutting blade.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a blade detached.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the

numeral 1 denotes the central longitudinal member of the main frameanupwardly facing channel beam or a pair of angle irons arranged in closerelation to form a channel. Rigidly secured to this member are longitu-'55 dinally spaced transverse beams 2 which are preferably of angularform, but other forms, such as square pipe, may be used instead.

Side beams 3. parallel to the member 1 are secured on the cross beam 2equal distances to the sides of said member and from the front of theforward beam 2 they are bent so as to converge toward the forward end ofthe central member 1, as at 4, to the sides of which member they arerigidly secured. A cross strap 5 is secured to the under faces of themembers 1 and 4 adjacent their forward ends and forms a connection forthe forward ends of brace straps 6 which extend under and are rigidlyconnected to the adjacentbea-m 2 and diverge to their rear ends, atwhich ends they are rigidly connected with the, beams 3 substantiallymidway between the beams 2. Just forwardly of the strap 5 a transverseyoke 7 is secured to the under face of themember 1, forming with saidmember a socket to receive and support a doubletree 8, from which thepull is transmitted to the front end of the frame. 7

Midway between the beams 2 the beams 3 support brackets 9, which in turnsupport a transversely extending sleeve 10. The braces 6 are secured tothe beams 3 in common with said brackets so as to provide a unitaryconnection between these parts. Turnable in the ends of the sleeve areshafts 11 having downwardly and outwardly angle-d arms 12'at their outerends, on the lower ends of which flanged wheels 13 are mounted. Theflange of each wheel is provided with a row of holes 14- so thatlaterally extending cutting blades may be removably secured to thewheels if desired.

Supported from the under side of the beam 3 ahead of the sleeve 10 is ashaft 15 on which, outwardly of the beams, short sleeves 16 areturnable. Each sleeve has opposed radially extending arms at itsopposite ends, the inner one of which projects upwardly and serves as acontrol lever 17 and the other one, 18, depends from the sleeve and isconnected at ber 1, so that the lift on the tongue is transmitt-ed tothe frame at the foremost end of the same. It will be noted that whatappears to be a pair of bolts 22 is shown as connecting each member 4 tothe central member 1. It willbe' understood ho'weverthat only'one ofsuch boltsis continuous between the members 4, so as to serve a's apivotfor the tongue. The

-lother' bolt, for each member 4, is merely a short stub, connecting theadjacent or abutting flanges of the member a and the central member 1,the latter as previously stated, being formed of two angle bar's,

L Turnaible on the sleeve 10in the lon itudin'al plane of the tongue isa pinion 23' engaging a segmental gear 24 fixed on the adjacent end ofthe tongue. A lever 25 is fixed with and projects upwardly from one endof the :pinion,-cooperating witha pawl and quadrant device- 25a of thecommon character so that said pinion and consequently the tongue may beheld in any desired position. It will therefore be seen that uponturning the lever the tongue will be tilted about the pivotal bolt 22,causing the front end of the tongue to be lowered relative to its normallined position in the frame member 1. Since the front end of the tongueis maintained at a certan level by r-easonof its connection withvthedraft animals, this tilting of the tongue has the effect of raising thefront end of the cutter frame. The seat structure associated with theframe comprises longitudinally extending side ;}Sstraps 26 straddling.the member 1 rearwardframe member. easily ad usted to accommodate usersof difly of the tongue and at their rear ends supporting thelongitudinally ad ustable seat 27. Toward their forward ends these stras are connected by cross straps 28, one above-and avione below thestraps 26 in longitudinally spaced relation; one of saidstraps 28 beingusually disposed toward the rear end: of the member 1, as shown in Fig.3.. The straps 28 normally ride on the upper and under surfacesrespectively of the member 1, the seat supporting straps 26 being thensubstantially horizontal as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The straps 28 are freely slidabl'e along the member 1 when the weight isoff the seat, but

will not slip when the seat is occupied on ac-' count of the frictionalresistance offered by the engagement of said straps with said The seattherefore can be ferent leg length, arm reach, or weight, whilemaintaining the seat on the same horizontal level. To enable the straps26 to be disposed at an upward slope, so that the seat will be higher, Iprovide 'einovable bolts 29 through said straps below and above the rearand front straps 28 respectively, which then engage the upper and lowersurfaces of the member 1 in place of the straps 28, as shown in Fig. 3,To enable the seat to be then horizontally disposed or in its normalseating position the rear end of the straps 26 are bent down as shown at30, so that when the straps assume the angular position and the seat isslid rearwardly along the same to-rest onthe said bent portion the seatwill reassume the desired horizontal position. This mounting of the seatalso enables it to be'swun'g forwardly when not in use if it is desiredto get it out of the way.

Dependingfrom the beams 2 outwardly of the beams 3 are standards 31,secured to said beams for transverse adjustment in the same manner as insaid Patent No. 1,781,851,- and braced against longitudinal deflectionby tension rods which may be of an adjustable or non-ad ustable t we asma 7 be de- J a l sired. Bolted to the lower ends of these standardslongitudinally extending wooden runners set on ec go and adapted torestonthe ground only when the machine is not in operation. Horizontalblades 34 sharpened along theirv forward edges converge toward theirrear ends from the inner faces of the runners intermediate the endsthereof. At their forward ends the blades are formed with upstanding butforwardly sloping plates abutting against the inner faces of therunners; said plates being also sharpened along their under forwardedges.

I Each plate is provided with a pair of vertically spaced horizontallyextending keyhole openings 36, the enlarged portions of which receivethe heads of bolts 37 therethrough, while the smaller portions are ofsufficient size to only receive the shanks of the bolts. The bolt shanksare square except for he threaded portion on their outer ends, so as tobe slidable but non-turnable in the runner. The lower bolt projectsthrough the blade plate runner and through the sides of metal anglemembers 38 with which the adjacent portion of the runner is sheathed atthe hotter The upper bolt projects hrough the blade plate, the runnerand the adjacent standard 31, as shown in Fig. 1. Each bolt has 2rflanged nut 39 on its outer end, the flange of which is held againstremoval or outward movement, without preventing the nnt being turned bya wrench, by a keeper 40 secured to the member 38 or the upright 31 asthe case maybe. To remove a blade therefore it is only necessary toretract the nuts relative tothe threads of the bolts. This will causethe bolts to be shifted inwardly, so asto unclam'p the bolt heads fromthe plate The plate may then be shifted horizontally until the enlargedpor t-ions of the openings 36 aline with the heads of the bolt, when aninward movement of the blade plate will clear the same from the heads ofthe bolts.

Mounted in rigid connection with each runner at the front end of thesame is a cast tip lL-of substantially U-shaped form in a horizontalplane. This tip straddles the forward end of the runner, leaving a spacebetween said end and the solid metal across the forward end of the tip,as shown in Fig. -l. At said forward end the tip has a down ward andforward slope, and depends ashort distance below the level of the runnerand the sheathing plates 38. These plates extend ahead of the runner andterminate close against the angled inner face of the front end portionof the tip. The rearward pressure exerted on the tip as engages theground is therefore taken direct by the rigid plates 38 instead of bythe bolts which are used to adjustably clamp the tip to the runner andplates.

Also the bottom flanges of the plates 38 serve to close the space 12 atthe bottom so that no dirt can enter said space frombelow. The bolts 43are disposed in longitudinally and vertically offset relation, the lowerone passing through the sides of the plates 38 and the tip, and theupper one passing throu h the tip and runner. The bolt holes 4% in thetip are formed as oblong slots, whose major axes are parallel to theslope of the front end of the tip. This enables the vertical setting ofthe tip relative to the runner to be altered, while still maintainingthe front edges of the plates 38 in close engagement with the innersurface of the front end of the tip for the purpose previously setforth.

founted on the lower bolt 43, which is in the space 1-2, is a T member45, in which is secured tension rod 46 projecting upwardly to a rigidconnection with abracket 47 secured to the upper end of the adjacentstandard 31. Turnable on the rod in the same manner as said copendingapplication is a roller 48 resting on the T. The sides of the tip in theplane of the space 42 are orificed as at 49 so as to provide for theready exit of any dirt which may possibly become lodged in said spaceand thus prevent the dirt from possibly jamming about the bearing of theroller and interfering with its free rotation. At the same time saidbearing below the upper end of the tip so that it is protected fromdirect c ntact with the dirt or vines engaged by the tip during itsforward movement.

By reason of the tongue adjusting features previously described theangular setting of the machine as a whole relative to the ground may bealtered so as to correspondingly alter the angular setting of therunners and cutting blades relative to the ground, as may be necessaryor desirable when operating under varying conditions.

The particular arrangement of the braces 6 I believe to be an importantfeature. They hold the frame rigid against twisting deflection in avertical plane, and prevent the beams 3 from bending up at the brackets9, or from bending down at the points where the beams 2 are connectedthereto and thus prevent the tips 41 (which are supported from the beams3) from digging too deep into the ground. This construction also hasother bracing features, and enables the frame as a whole to be keptrelatively light without loss of strength or rigidity. It is to be notedthat in this cutter, no Weight is supported by the runners, the cutterbeing held up by the wheels and the tongue when in motion. The runnersare for the purpose of forming a rigid means to which to attach the tipsor points, the dividing rollers, and the blades.

Though I have described and particularly intend this machine as beingfor cutting beans, it is also suitable with little or no modification,except as to the proportioning or sizes of the parts, for cuttingspinach and similar crops. I

l/Vhile this specification sets forth in detail the present andpreferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviationsfrom such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from thespirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an agricultural implement, a main longitudinal frame member, aseat, transversely spaced longitudinallyextending supports on the rearend of which the seat is mounted, and means between said supports andthe member for adj ustably mounting said supports on said member atdifferent points in the length of the latter and so that the seat may beindependently disposed at different levels.

2. In an agricultural implement, a main longitudinal frame member, aseat, transversely spaced longitudinally extending sm ports on the rearend of which the seat is mounted, said supports extending forwardly fromthe seat in straddling relation to said member, and longitudinallyspaced straps secured to and extending between the supports from theupper and lower edges of the same to engage the upper and lower surfacesrespectively of the frame member.

3. A structure as in claim 2, with additional longitudinally spacedremovable members placeable through the supports intermediate their topand bottom edges to engage the frame member independent of the straps.

4. In a bean cutter having transverse shafts, downwardly depending armson the. outer ends of the shafts, and wheels supported from the lowerends of the arms; a shaft parallel to but longitudinally spaced from thewheel-shafts, a sleeve for each wheel turnable on the last named shaft,alever projecting upwardly from one end of the sleeve, an arm dependingfromthe other end of the sleeve, and a link between the lower end ofsaid arm and the wheel-shaft arm.

5. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, and cutting blades projecting downwardly and inwardly from therunners; upstanding plates on the forward ends of the blades abuttingagainst the inner faces of the runners, said plates having key holeopenings therein, bolts through the runners and openings and whose headsare passable through be enlarged ends of the openings, nuts on the outerends of the bolts and keepers for the nuts to prevent outward movementof the same without interfering with their rotation the bolts beingslidable but non-turnable in the runners.

6. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, and cutting blades projecting downwardly and inwardly from therunners; upstanding p .tes on the forward ends of the blades abutungagainst the inner faces of the runners, said plates having keyholeopenings therein, bolts through the runners and openings and whose headsare passable through the enlarged ends of the openings, said bolts beingslidable but nonturnable in the runners, and means operable from theouter faces of the runners for thus sliding the bolts to move'theirbeads from a plate clamping to a plate releasing position andvice-versa.

7. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, individual tip members separate from said runners straddling thesame at their forward ends, and means securing the tips to the runnersfor vertical adjustment.

8. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, tip members separate from said runners straddling the same attheir forward ends, said members being substantially U shaped, in ahorizontal plane and each being disposed relative to its runner to leavean open space between the forward edges of the runner and the frontcross web of the member, sheathing lement across the bottom of therunner at the front and partially up the sides of the same, saidelements extending ahead of the runner to cover the bottom of said spaceand abut against said cross-web, and bolts securing the tip to therunner and sheat-ing elements.

9. A structure as in claim 8, in which the bolt holes in the tip are ofslotted form and extend parallelto the vertical plane of the crossweb.

10. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, tip members separate from said runners straddling thesame attheir forward ends, said members being substantially U shaped in ahorizontal plane and each being disposed relative to its runner to leavean open space between the forward edges of the runner and the frontcross web of the member, a substantially vertical roller projectingupwardly from and depending into said space, and bearing means in thetip for the lower end of the roller; there being openings in the sidesof the tip in the plane of the space and bearmg means.

11. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, tip memers separate from said runners straddling the same attheir forward ends, said members being substantially U shaped in ahorizontal plane and each being disposed relative to its runner to leavean open space between the forward ec ges of the runner and the frontcross webof the member, a bolt fixed with each tip and projecting acrossthe space, a T member mounted on the bolt in said space, a verticaltension rod secured at its lower end in said T, and a roller turnable onthe rod and resting on the T; the top of the T being below the top ofthe tip.

12. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, onepiece tip members separate from said runners extending aheadof the same-and secured to the forward ends thereof, said membersdepending to the plane of the bottom of the runners to engage the groundahead of the latter.

' 13. In a bean cutter having side runners set on edge and adjacent theground, one-piece tip members separate from said runners eX- tendingahead of the same and secured to the forward ends thereof, and rollersprojecting upwardly from and supported at their lower ends by the tipmembers.

14. In a bean cutter, a main frame structure including a centrallongitudinal beam, side beams spaced from the central beam and conve ngtoward their forward ends to connections with said central beam at itsforward end, a cross beam connecting said central and side beamsintermediate their ends, a cross strap connected to and under said beamsadjacent their forward ends, braces secured to said straps and divergingthence to the side beams rearwardly of the cross beam, and connected tosaid side and cross beams, and means for applying a draft to the centralbeam ahead of said strap.

15. In an agricultural implement, a main longitudinal frame member, atongue extending ahead of said member, a transverse pivot connectionbetween said tongue intermediate its ends and the frame, a segmentalgear on the rear end of the tongue concentric with the pivot, a pinionmeshing with the gear and journaled 0n the frame, a hand lever appliedto the pinion for turning the same, and releasable catch means betweenthe frame and lever to hold the latter at any desired position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GREGORY LANG.

